Past and Present
by Jo. R
Summary: Fornell approaches Abby with a request that causes the past and present to collide unexpectedly. Complete.
1. Chapter 1

Title: Past and Present  
Author: Jo. R  
Rating: Mild R for non-explicit sex and violence.  
Category: Romance, Angst, Drama, Friendship  
Pairing: Abby/Gibbs  
Spoilers: Hiatus 1&2, Escaped, Ravenous, Bloodbath, Judgement Day 1&2, Agent Afloat, Cover Story  
Summary: Fornell approaches Abby with a request that causes the past and present to collide unexpectedly.  
Author's Notes: Takes a little something from my story 'Branded' and uses it but it's not necessary to read that story first as it's explained in this one, too. Taking liberties with the timelines, too – I tried following them the best I could but they get very confusing in this show of ours.

****

Almost as soon as the door closed and Abby Sciuto turned away from it to head back to her bedroom, a dreamy smile on her face, the telephone began to ring. She picked the receiver out of its cradle and pressed it against her ear as she sank down onto the couch, dragging the blanket she kept on the back of it around her bare legs.

"Abby speaking."

"Ms. Sciuto, it's Fornell." The voice on the other end was familiar but entirely unexpected. "I need you to come to the Bureau."

"It's Saturday." She kicked herself mentally for the response but she'd only been awake for a few hours and her mind was still in the happy-floaty space it usually occupied after a night spent with her lover and the promise of the rest of the weekend with him, too. "I don't work for the FBI, Fornell."

"You do for today," Agent Tobias Fornell told her in a tone that left no room for argument. "I'll be there to pick you up in ten minutes, Ms. Sciuto. Director Vance knows all about it if you want to call and confirm it with him but under no circumstances are you to involve Special Agent Gibbs."

Something cold settled in her stomach at the last part of his order. "Why can't I tell Gibbs?"

Fornell sighed over the phone. "You'll understand when you get briefed. Meet me outside, Ms. Sciuto. I don't want to be kept waiting."

He hung up just as she opened her mouth to ask another question. Abby stared at the receiver in her hand a for a few moments before making herself get to her feet and resuming her journey into her bedroom to dress.

*****

It was her first time inside the FBI Headquarters in DC and Abby couldn't help but look around like a stunned tourist when she first followed Fornell inside. It was huge, much bigger than NCIS, and there were dozens of people – both members of the public and men and women she recognised as being agents wandering around the foyer. The agents were easy to spot to her experienced eye, most of them in trademark suits and ties.

"This way." Fornell wasted no time by offering her a guided tour and strode across the floor to the bank of elevators at the far side. Abby had to quicken her pace to catch up with him, glaring at the back of his head at his impatience. He waited until she was inside – just – before pressing the button for the fifth floor before letting his arms fall to his sides, his eyes fixed on the display of numbers above the door as they lit up in turn.

"I deserve an explanation, Fornell," Abby reminded him as the silence stretched on. She wasn't a bit fan of silence, nor was she a fan of secrecy and cloak and dagger behaviour. "What's going on? Why am I here?"

Fornell glanced at her briefly before returning his gaze to the numbers. "You're here to help create a traceable paper-trail for a woman who I recently found in witness protection. I want you to make it look like she's living in another part of the world entirely, while at the same time creating a new identity for her so she can stay here in Washington."

Abby frowned and crossed her arms over her chest. "Why me? You've got a load of people here who could do exactly the same thing."

"Gibbs maintains you're the best. Director Vance agrees." Fornell shrugged one-shoulder and gave her another side-long glance. "There's a reason the FBI has been wanting to recruit you for seven years," he admitted grudgingly. "You're good."

Flattered but trying not to show it or the fact that there were butterflies dancing in her stomach, Abby let her own arms drop to her sides. "Why did you take her out of witness protection? If she was safe there, why go to all of this trouble...?"

"She wasn't safe. We believe those after her have discovered her identity, which is why I was assigned the task of reinventing it." Fornell's expression tightened, his eyes once again fixed forward. "And had I known who or where she was earlier, I would have done this a long time ago."

"I don't understand." Abby followed him out of the elevator as the doors slid open, managing to keep up with him by increasing the length of her strides. "Why is it so important she stays in Washington DC? What kind of identity am I supposed to create?"

Fornell led her into an office just down the hall from the elevators and shut the door behind them. He walked over to the computer on the desk and hit a few buttons before turning the screen around so she could easily see the photograph of the smiling young woman on it.

"Meet Kelly Gibbs," Fornell told her grimly. "I need you to create an identity for her that would allow her to go home to her father."

Abby stared at the image on screen, at the familiar blue eyes and brownish-red hair of the young woman ten or more years her junior. She was unmistakably Gibbs' long-dead daughter, sharing her father's grin as well as his eyes.

"How...? Kelly's dead. She died thirteen years ago."

"Apparently not." Fornell turned the screen away again. "If I'd known sooner, I would've told him. You have to believe that. If anything happened to my Emily..."

She saw the anguish in his eyes, the empathy of one father for another. "I believe you, Tobias, and so will Gibbs." She clasped her hands in front of her and squared her shoulders. "I assume you've got an idea how to make it so she can go back to her father without alerting the guys after her?"

Fornell gave her a small nod, motioning for her to take the chair in front of the computer. "I want you to make her a relative of some kind. Someone no one would think twice about coming to stay with him. There's a list of his relatives in the file."

Abby flicked through the file he'd indicated for a few silent moments, her brow furrowed as she read the brief descriptions Fornell had provided on each one. She shrugged her shoulders after a while and flexed her fingers, poising them above the keys after loading the software she'd used time and time again at NCIS to create undercover identities for the team.

She worked in silence for a long time, conscious of Fornell watching over her shoulder, the weight of the task she was performing hanging heavily on her shoulders as she thought of Gibbs and Kelly being reunited – and their future together resting in her hands, relying on her ability to do a good job.

After a few hours of falsifying records, deleting old ones and creating new ones, with both of them making phone calls to associates, Abby leaned back in her chair and tilted the screen so Fornell could see the information on screen.

He gave her an approving nod and momentarily set a hand on her shoulder, both to congratulate and thank her.

"Welcome to the world, Melissa Gibbs."

*****


	2. Chapter 2

*****

Abby let herself into her apartment , feeling as drained as she usually did after pulling an all-nighter without the benefit of Caf-Pow. She closed the door by leaning against it, reaching a hand behind her to lock it. Before she could move away from it, she found herself pinned there by a familiar and very welcome warm weight.

His lips and tongue teased a moan out of her as he showed his admiration once more for the spider web tattoo on her neck and Abby opened her eyes, a dazed smile on her mouth when he drew away slightly.

"You look tired," Leroy Jethro Gibbs told her after a few moments of just drinking in the sight of her. It felt to both of them like they'd been apart for more than just a few hours and Abby found herself wondering how long that element of their relationship would last with the changes she knew were just around the corner. They'd been together for almost six months though no one at NCIS knew about them – a surprise considering they couldn't seem to keep their hands off each other when they were alone. "I thought you were going to stay in and watch TV."

Abby smiled at him but didn't answer, drawing his head back to hers so she could kiss him thoroughly instead. She felt the need for comfort, to comfort, and there was no better way to do that in her mind than curl up in Gibbs' arms and forget all about the world beyond them.

She soon found herself in that exact position, curled up with him on the couch as soft strands of the country music CD she'd allowed him to bring over to her apartment played in the background. She closed her eyes and nestled further against him, a sigh escaping against her will.

"What's wrong, Abs?" Gibbs asked, his voice a low rumble she felt in his chest.

"Nothing." She sighed against and rubbed her cheek against him. "Just tired, I guess."

"You want to cancel going out tonight and just order something in?" Gibbs ran a soothing hand up and down her back.

Abby stifled a snort but knew he could feel her shoulders tense. "Are we ever going to tell people about us?" She asked quietly, her voice a little muffled by his chest.

His hand stopped for a moment before resuming its course. "That's not why I suggested we stay in, Abby."

"But it'd make it easier, wouldn't it?" She pushed herself into a semi-upright position, looking down at him as he lay against the cushions of the couch. "Admit it, Gibbs, you don't really want risk being seen out with me. It'd be easier if we just stayed in so no one spotted us and found out we're a couple."

"Abby..." With an edge of impatience, Gibbs reached up and drew her down against him, winding his arms and legs around her to keep her in place. "You know I don't have a problem with people finding out eventually. I just don't want to share you yet." He tightened his arms around her as if to prove his point. "I like it being just the two of us for now. Me and my girl."

His choice of words made tears spring to her eyes but she lowered her head so he couldn't see them, wrapping her own arms around him as much as she could.

That was the problem, she thought to herself. As soon as Fornell got clearance to bring Kelly Gibbs back into his life, she'd no longer be his only girl.

*****

It took two weeks for the phone call she'd both been hoping for and dreading to come. Abby hung up without saying goodbye, staring blindly at her computer screen. Fornell hadn't had to give her a heads up that he was bringing Kelly – Melissa – Gibbs to the Navy Yard to be reunited with her father but she appreciated the fact that he had.

Part of her wondered about going up to the bullpen and being there when they arrived but she quashed that idea, deciding Gibbs and his daughter deserved as much privacy as they could get surrounded by curious agents.

She sat at her computer and focused on the report she was writing until McGee, DiNozzo and Ziva arrived in her lab, all breathless and wide-eyed as they fought with each other over who got to break the news to her first.

*****

Gibbs sat in the conference room, his hand wrapped around his daughter's as he half-listened to Fornell explaining how he'd found her. He couldn't take his eyes off her, couldn't let himself believe she was really sitting beside him.

"We created an identity for her that should make it possible to live here in DC," Fornell finished, hands behind his back as he watched them closely. "If anyone asks, Kelly is Melissa Gibbs, the daughter of your second cousin on your mother's side from Montana."

"How do you know they won't be suspicious that Annie Richmond has disappeared at the same time Melissa Gibbs shows up?" Kelly asked quietly, her own gaze lingering on her father.

Fornell gave her a supportive smile. "Our expert saw to that, Kelly – Melissa. As far as the Daniels family is concerned, Annie Richmond is living a normal life in the South of France. Regular instalments will be taken from your old bank account over the course of the next few years in various European cities and there'll be a trail of flight and hostel reservations that should keep them busy for years to come. They haven't been following Agent Gibbs as far as we can tell."

"Their issue is with me," Kelly responded. "I'm the one they want to get revenge against."

"They won't." Gibbs gave her hand a reassuring squeeze. "I won't let anyone hurt you again, Kel. I promise."

She smiled almost shyly at him and lowered her head. "I guess you'll have to call me Mel now. And I'll have to call you Uncle Jethro?"

Gibbs rolled his eyes. "Only in public. At home you're Kelly and I'm... I'm just Dad."

It was hard to speak passed the lump in his throat and Kelly could see that. She moved from her seat, into his open arms in an instant, her head against his shoulder as they clung tightly to one another.

"I've missed you so much," she murmured, silent tears streaming down her cheeks. "I thought about you every day, Daddy. I wanted to come home so much."

Unable to speak, Gibbs could only tighten his arms around her, watery blue eyes meeting Fornell's over his daughter's shoulder. Fornell held his gaze for a few moments before nodding, the message of thanks received, and slipping out of the room to allow the reunited father-daughter a few moments alone together.

*****

She fit surprisingly easily into her father's life. Kelly was a little nervous about meeting his team – his friends and family, Fornell had forewarned her – but her worries were cast aside almost as soon as she was introduced to them.

Doctor Donald 'Ducky' Mallard embraced her warmly, welcoming her into the fold as though she were his own long-lost friend.

Special Agents Tony DiNozzo and Tim McGee and Officer Ziva David were just as welcoming although none of them seemed to know exactly how to talk to her. They were happy for her and her Dad, though, that much was obvious and she appreciated them all for it.

Abby Sciuto was the last person her father introduced her to but Kelly got the feeling she was possibly the most important one of them all. She was friendly and warm, as welcoming as all of the others combined... But there was something about her, something Kelly was sure she was holding back.

Kelly's suspicions were confirmed when she slipped out of bed one night a few weeks after her reunion with her father. She went to get a glass of water from the kitchen when she heard the murmuring of voices from the basement. Smiling to herself, remembering sneaking down to watch her father work on his boat as a little girl, watching him move as if in time with the music from the old radio he kept down there, Kelly decided it was time to reacquaint herself with the finer details of boat making.

She wasn't prepared for finding her father locked in a heated embrace with the black-haired Goth.

They continued to kiss, oblivious to her presence, for several long moments. Kelly stood on the stairs, frozen in place, a sense of betrayal growing inside her. She remembered finding her Mom and Dad in a similar position once, when she'd been about six. She'd giggled then, finding it funny.

Finding it amusing.

There was nothing amusing about watching her father press Abby against the bow of the boat, his hands in her hair as he kissed her deeply.

They parted after a while, exchanging a long, loving look she recognised, too. She saw her father smile in a way she could see so clearly in her memories, his eyes sparkling as he gazed at the woman in his arms.

A woman who wasn't her mother.

Kelly turned to go back up to her room, tears streaming down her cheeks, but the stair beneath her creaked and gave away her position.

"Kels..." She heard her father say her name and turned to glare at him, wiping her cheeks with the sleeve of her pyjama top.

"You're sick," she spat at them, her voice trembling as her eyes fixed on the black haired woman doing her best to disappear. "She's a freak and you're old enough to be her father."

"Kelly!" A note of anger crept into her father's voice but she ignored it, turning on her heel and running up the stairs to her room.

She buried her head in the blankets on her bed but could still hear the sound of the front door behind closed quietly and a car starting on the street outside. She heard her father's footsteps on the stairs, on the landing outside of her room.

He didn't come in and she couldn't decide whether to be disappointed or relieved.

Curling up like she was a little girl again, Kelly pressed her pillow against her face and tried to block out the ache in her chest.

*****


	3. Chapter 3

*****

While Kelly was a frequent visitor to the Navy Yard, she stopped visiting the lab altogether. She'd once enjoyed going down there to listen to Abby's music if not to speak to the woman herself but after finding Abby and her father, Kelly had done her best to avoid speaking to the forensic scientist at all costs.

It hadn't gone unnoticed by the team, who each wondered what she had against the friendly scientist and weren't above trying to encourage her to get passed whatever it was she didn't like about Abby. If they knew what she knew, Kelly was certain they'd be just as appalled as she was but loyalty to her father kept her from letting them in on the secret.

She only ended up back in the lab when she'd stopped by unexpectedly and been told by an unassuming Ziva that her father was down there visiting Abby. She felt angry and hurt and had wanted to confront them again only when she'd gotten to the lab, she'd found Abby sitting there alone.

"Where's my father?" She demanded in way of greeting.

"Good afternoon to you, too." Abby slowly got up from her stool and stretched, the short top she wore under her lab coat rising up a little, baring a patch of skin between it and the short skirt she wore. "I think he's gone to autopsy to see Ducky about the marine who was found dead this morning," she continued almost conversationally. "Gibbs didn't mention you were coming by today."

"So you thought you'd get away with throwing yourself at him?" Kelly sneered, her lip curling in disgust.

Abby looked at her but refused to comment.

"It's not going to last, you know. It's just a fling. He's just using you for sex, not that I want to think about it." Kelly glared at her, hands clenching into fists. "You're not my Mom. You couldn't be; you're too young. Dad likes an older woman, more mature. More sophisticated. Not freaks like you who wear shorter skirts than his own daughter."

"I'm not falling for the bait," Abby responded, walking around the lab to check the progress of various machines as Kelly watched. "You're upset and you're angry and I get that, I really do. You want to spend time with your Dad because you love him and you think I'm intruding." Abby shrugged and gave her a glance over her shoulder. "I'll give you space, Kelly. I've been giving you space. I've got no intention of coming between the two of you but you've got to accept that I love him, too."

The attempt at placating her didn't work.

"He's old enough to be your father!" Kelly shouted, hands on her hips as her blue eyes flashed in indignation. "It's twisted!"

Abby rolled her eyes and fought to keep hold of her own temper. "Unless he started having kids when he was fifteen, no, he's not old enough to be my father. Unless you want to go back on what you said about me not being old enough to be your mother since we have the same age gap between us?" When Kelly said nothing, Abby turned away. "If I see him before you do, I'll tell him you're here."

Kelly turned to leave the lab but was stopped by the sound of Abby's voice, almost too soft to be heard.

"I don't know why you hate me, Kelly, but I really wish I could change your mind. I'm not a bad person. I just love your Dad. And he loves me."

Snorting derisively, Kelly turned to glare at Abby's back. "If he loved you, he wouldn't be so ashamed to admit there's something between you, would he? It wouldn't be such a big secret if he wasn't embarrassed by the thought of everyone knowing he's dating a woman like you."

Her head held high, Kelly strode out of the lab, doing her best to ignore the stab of guilt she felt at her parting shot.

It was true, she told herself firmly. Why else would her Dad not want people to know?

*****

It was a question Abby had asked herself more than once. One that played on her mind as she held her cell phone in one hand and a glass of wine in the other.

He'd cancelled on her, again.

Because Kelly had asked him to stay home, again.

Abby let the phone drop to the couch and took the glass of wine and the rest of the bottle to the bedroom with her. She set them both on her bedside table and stripped out of the striking red dress she'd donned for their night out.

For her pre-birthday dinner that had only ever been cancelled once before, and that was while they'd been in the middle of a life-or-death case.

She slipped the black satin negligee over her head and fastened the matching dressing gown around her by cinching the belt at her waist. The two-piece had been an early birthday present for herself – and a planned non-birthday present for Gibbs – but it looked like it was for nothing now.

Abby curled up on her bed, pulling the top sheet over her before reaching for her wine glass. She took another sip of wine before setting it aside, letting her head fall against the pillow as tears stung her eyes.

Maybe Kelly was right, she thought sadly. Maybe Gibbs really was ashamed of her and his daughter was providing him with the excuse he'd needed to cool off their relationship.

*****

Curled up on her bed, half-empty glass of wine and almost full bottle beside her, was how Gibbs found her when he let himself into her apartment three hours later. He sat on the edge of the bed, watching her sleep for a few moments before taking in the sight of the crumpled red dress on the floor and the smudged mascara on her cheeks from where she'd either rubbed her eyes or been crying.

He hoped it was the former but suspected it was the later.

Leaning over her, caressing her cheek gently with one hand, he lowered his mouth to hers and kissed her gently.

Abby's lips parted and she sighed but didn't wake fully, her body shifting instinctively, seeking his warmth. He kicked off his shoes and shrugged out of his jacket, laying down beside her and drawing her body into the cradle of his.

He held her for almost an hour, stroking her back through the thin, slinky material of the negligee he'd never seen before, enjoying the sense of peace that always seemed to surround him whenever he was with Abby.

When she began to stir, her subconscious mind realising that he shouldn't be there, Gibbs kissed her again, pressing his lips against hers gently at first, then with more pressure when he felt her begin to respond. Her hand moved to thread through his hair as she opened her mouth to him with a sigh, throwing a leg over his as if to keep him with her.

"Happy birthday," he murmured when he pulled back to smile down at her. "I'm sorry I had to cancel on you."

She drew him back against her, kissing him softly. "You're here now," she mumbled against his lips. "And you can make it up to me."

Gibbs grinned, tearing his lips away from hers to leave a trail down her neck to her chest, hands moving to untie the belt at her waist. "I'll do my best."

*****

Lying in his arms, her body warm and relaxed, Abby could almost let her earlier doubts disappear. Almost.

She listened to his heart beating beneath her ear, her fingers splayed against his chest as he pressed his lips to the top of her head. "Gibbs...?"

"Hmmm..?"

"I was thinking it might be time to tell people about us." She paused for a second, giving him a chance to react. When he didn't, she sighed softly. "It's been almost seven months and I know Ziva's starting to get suspicious..."

"Let her." Gibbs ran a hand over her hip. "It's no one's business but ours, Abby."

"What if I want it to be?" She reluctantly pushed herself up, needing to look him in the eye for this conversation. "I love you and I'm not ashamed of that. I don't care who knows we're together. Do you?"

He hesitated for a split-second and seemed unable to meet her gaze. "I just think we should wait a bit longer. Kelly needs me to be there for her, Abs. She needs time to adjust to everything, to get used to the thought of you being part of our lives..."

Abby clenched her jaw, the only outward sign of her agitation. "Kelly is twenty-one years old. She's not a kid and I think it'd be best if you try to remember that. She knows exactly what she's doing."

"And what is that exactly?" It was Gibbs' turn to move, sitting up so she couldn't lean against him anymore. He kept his gaze on her face as she lifted the sheet to cover her chest, a protective surge towards his daughter rising inside him. "What is it you think she's doing, Abby?"

"Trying to come between us and apparently succeeding," Abby retorted, the hand clutching the sheet against her clenching almost painfully. "She has you wrapped around her little finger, Jethro, and she knows it. She hates me and she'll do anything to get me out of your life and you're letting her."

Gibbs rolled his eyes at her and didn't seem to notice the flash of hurt that crossed her face at the gesture. "You're the one sounding childish, Abby. Childish and jealous. I know I've been spending a lot of time with her but you agreed that's what I should do. I've missed out on almost thirteen years with her, Abby, and I'm not missing out on anymore. She's my daughter. My girl."

"Your girl," Abby repeated slowly. She wrapped the sheet more securely around her and slid off the bed. "Your girl thinks you're ashamed of me, that you're too embarrassed by me to go public with this relationship." She scooped up her nightdress and dressing gown from the floor and stood at the edge of the bed for a few moments, staring at him with raw pain in her eyes. "I'm beginning to think she's right and you are ashamed of me. I'm not going to change, Jethro. You knew who you were getting involved with when this started and if you can't accept that, you're not the man I thought you were."

"Abby..."

His voice followed her into the bathroom before she shut the door, putting wood and distance between them. She leaned against it as tears slid down her cheeks, trying to block out the sound of him approaching the door.

"C'mon, Abby. You know that's not true." He tried the door handle but the lock on the door held firm. "This is stupid. You can't really believe that's true." She didn't trust herself to speak so stayed quiet, sliding down the door to sit on the floor. "I'll talk to Kelly, okay? I know you've been giving us space and I appreciate that, I really do. I'll talk to her and tell her you're part of my life and you're not going anywhere. I promise. Once she's okay with the idea, we'll tell the others."

"It'd take a miracle," Abby muttered, too quietly to be heard beyond the door.

She listened as his cell phone began to ring, heard his side of the conversation before he hung up with a sigh and approached the closed door once more.

"I've got to go, Abs. Kelly's not feeling too great." She heard him collect his things and get dressed. "I know you're upset right now but things'll be better in the morning, I promise."

It was a promise he couldn't keep, Abby was sure. She stayed sitting until she heard the door to her apartment close, then stood and dressed in the negligee and dressing gown she'd brought through with her.

There was no way a good night's sleep would fix what was wrong and she thought Gibbs was a fool if he believed that it would.

*****

For the second time in one night, Abby was awoken in her sleep.

The second time was nowhere near as pleasant as the first and she found herself fighting for her life against the masked man who crept into her bedroom and straddled her as she slept. She kicked and clawed at him through the thick material of his clothes, bucking her body until he was forced off her, to the side.

There was no way she could reach a weapon like her bedside lamp or the bottle of wine that still sat close by so she did the only thing she could think of and slipped the belt of her dressing gown out of its loops and wrapped it around his neck when he lunged at her again.

She pulled it tight as he clawed at it, as he lashed out and hit her, nails digging into her flesh and slicing her skin before returning to attempt to free himself of the thin strip of satin. She held on until she was certain he was unconscious, finding a reserve of strength she never knew she had as adrenaline raced through her body at an alarming rate.

Only when she was sure it was safe to do so, Abby let go of the ends of the belt and pushed him onto the bed, scrambling off it and out of her bedroom.

She almost reached her cell phone when the second assailant grabbed her from behind and pinned her arms to her body, taking the brunt of her kicks and attempts at biting him while the third slid the tip of the needle into the skin of her arm and pressed the plunger down.

It took less than three minutes for the sedative to take effect, for the drug to work its way into her system and her body to shut down despite her desperate attempts to fight it.

"Get her in the van," the second assailant ordered the third.

"What about Collins?" The third asked, easily hefting Abby's unconscious body into his arms.

The second looked at him with a shrug. "I'll take care of him."

*****


	4. Chapter 4

Thanks to everyone for the lovely reviews so far. I know things are angsty at the moment - it'll get a bit worse but then it'll start getting better, I hope!! Hope you keep enjoying it :)

*****

The body was found by a neighbour who noticed the door to the apartment was slightly ajar. She screamed until her husband joined her in the apartment and sobbed hysterically as he called the cops.

Gibbs and his team were called in an hour later, when Abby was identified as being an employee of NCIS.

"Woah." Tony DiNozzo stopped a few steps into the bedroom, the camera in his hands lowered at the sight of the bound and naked man in Abby's bed.

"Bedroom games gone wrong," a Metro cop said, barely looking up from his notepad. "Looks like your girl got a little too enthusiastic and ran off."

Gibbs took in the scene wordlessly, noting the lone wine glass on the bedside table and the newer streaks of mascara and eyeliner on Abby's pillow.

"There was a used condom in the trash," the cop continued, glancing up when Tony and McGee started taking pictures and Ducky approached the body. "Looks pretty straight forward to me."

"It is not." It was Ziva David who answered, giving the cop a glare Gibbs could be proud of. "Abby would not run if this had been an accident."

The cop shrugged. "So it wasn't an accident and she murdered the guy."

"We'll take it from here." Gibbs struggled to keep his voice neutral, his eyes dark as he moved closer to the body. The cop shrugged and walked out of the bedroom, leaving the NCIS team alone to do their jobs.

"There are signs of scratching on his arms," Ducky pointed out in a low voice. "Whoever he is, she fought with him."

Gibbs nodded, a troubled look on his face. "I need you to test the condom they found," he told Ducky quietly. He knew his team would be listening but he couldn't bring himself to care. "The DNA inside it, to be specific."

"You think it was planted at the scene?" Ducky asked, looking up from his study of the body to meet Gibbs' solemn gaze.

"No." Gibbs fought the urge to close his eyes as a memory returned unbidden to the forefront of his mind. "But the semen won't match our victim here. It'll rule out the assumption this guy and Abby had sex."

Ducky frowned as Gibbs moved away to study the contents of Abby's closet and drawers, no doubt to try and see if any items of clothing were missing. "How can you be so sure, Jethro?"

"Just run it, Duck," Gibbs responded, squaring his shoulders as he started towards the living room of the apartment. "You'll understand when you get the results."

Ducky exchanged a glance with the other members of Gibbs' team as their boss disappeared, shaking his head as he returned his attention to the body and begun to untie the silk scarves keeping the dead man bound to the headboard.

His eyes narrowed as he slowly unwound the strip of satin from around the man's neck, fingers gently probing the bruised skin.

"Is there a problem, Doctor Mallard?" His assistant, Jimmy Palmer, joined him at the bed side, staring at the corpse as he tried to see what had made the Medical Examiner frown.

"There may be, Mr. Palmer." Ducky handed him the satin belt without taking his eyes off the body. "There may well be."

Tony, Ziva and McGee looked at one another but didn't comment. They worked in usual silence as they processed the scene, each of them trying to find something that would prove Abby's innocence and perhaps let them know where she'd gone.

*****

Ducky stood over the body in the morgue, frowning at the results on the paper in his hand as the doors slid open and Gibbs, followed by his team, strode in.

"Ah, Jethro." Ducky tried to catch Gibbs' eye but the Special Agent wouldn't look at him. "The DNA we scraped from under his nails does indeed match Abigail's and the wounds I've identified on his arms are consistent with our theory that Abby was not a willing participant in what happened." He looked down at the file and willed his friend to look at him, sighing when Gibbs refused to do so. "You were right about the semen inside the condom found in her apartment, too, but you knew that already, didn't you?"

Gibbs still said nothing.

"It doesn't match the dead guy?" It was Tony who asked, wandering over to try and read the report over Ducky's shoulder. "But you managed to match it to someone...?"

"Indeed I did." Ducky closed the file so Tony couldn't read the results for himself. "However, I'm not sure if it is relevant..."

"It's mine," Gibbs cut him off, eyes still fixed on the corpse on the autopsy table. "The DNA is a match for me."

Tony and McGee stared at him, jaws agape. Ducky looked at him sympathetically and Ziva didn't appear surprised in the slightest.

"How did he die, Ducky?" Gibbs looked up then, blue eyes locking with Ducky's. "She didn't kill him, did she?"

"No, she didn't." Pleased he could at least reassure them of that, Ducky set the file down and motioned to the bruising around the dead man's neck. "The extent of the bruising suggests he was incapacitated by the strangulation but there isn't enough bruising or injury to the tissue to cause a fatality. This, however, would." Ducky drew Gibbs attention to a small, almost invisible to the naked eye pin-point above the man's heart, using a magnifying glass so the Special Agent could see it. "Do you see it?"

Gibbs frowned and narrowed his eyes. "He was injected with something...?"

"Not exactly." Ducky shook his head. "The tox screens were negative for all known drugs and chemical substances, however I believe I know what killed him." He paused for a moment, almost as if for dramatic effect. "Air."

"Air?"

"An empty syringe to be exact. An air bubble in the heart can be fatal, no matter how small. This poor chap didn't stand a chance." Ducky studied Gibbs' reaction. "Whoever he was, I don't think it's likely that he entered Abigail's apartment alone."

"So there was someone else there, someone who has Abby." McGee frowned and glanced at his boss. "Who would do that? What would they want with her?"

Tony's brow furrowed thoughtfully. "We should check Mawher is still behind bars," he suggested.

"And go through all of our cases where Abby's work has resulted in an arrest," Ziva added with a grimace.

"That would be... almost all of them," Tony pointed out.

Ziva nodded curtly. "I know."

The doors slid open again and they turned to look at the newcomer, all expecting Jimmy, all surprised when it Agent Fornell walked in instead.

"I can identify your victim," Fornell said in lieu of a hello. His eyes strayed from the body on the table to Gibbs' tense form. "And I think I know who has Abby."

*****

Gibbs was surprised to find Kelly sitting at his desk when they got up to the bullpen, even more so when Fornell insisted on her being part of the briefing. The group retired to the conference room, all reluctant to sit despite Director Leon Vance insisting they did so.

"What does the FBI have to do with Abby disappearing?" Gibbs fought his anger and his fear and somehow managed to keep his voice calm. He glanced at his daughter and found her watching him through red-rimmed eyes. "What does it have to do with Kelly?"

Fornell hesitated, sharing a look with Director Vance before continuing. "The man you have down in the morgue is Liam Collins. He's a known employee of the Daniels family."

"The Daniels...?" Gibbs glanced at Kelly again for confirmation, getting it in the form of her pale skin and trembling bottom lip. He reached out to take her hand in his. "The people after Kelly. Why would they want Abby?"

"We had a mole at the FBI, one who was taken care of this morning. The mole was among a select group of people who knew what part Abby played in making it possible for Kelly to come back to you." Fornell paused, watching Gibbs and Kelly closely. "I thought she might have told you, especially considering your relationship...?"

Gibbs' eyes narrowed. "How...?"

"We've been keeping a close eye on your house since Kelly came back, just to make sure everything was okay." Fornell shrugged unapologetically. "I approached Abby as someone I knew you'd trust. She helped create a paper-trail for them to chase as far as Annie Richmond is concerned and she also created the identity Kelly currently has as Melissa Gibbs. No one but myself and Abby are aware that Melissa Gibbs didn't exist two months ago and if the Daniels family had come to that conclusion themselves, they would've gone straight after Kelly instead of targeting Abby."

"Are you sure they have her?" Ziva asked, her brown eyes dark with concern. "Perhaps there is someone else..."

Fornell motioned to the television screen at the end of the conference room table. "The FBI received this message from them. I'm afraid there is no doubt."

He nodded at Director Vance, who pressed a button the remote he held and the screen flickered to life.

Abby's image appeared on it, a blindfold covering her eyes. One strap of her negligee was broken. Dried blood marred her flesh, which was too pale in places, already showing signs of bruising in others. Her bottom lip was split and bloody, trembling as she tried to hold herself still.

A man appeared behind her, his smile cruel, his eyes hard. Kelly gasped and clung harder to her father's hand.

"Tell us what we want to know, Ms. Sciuto, and we will let you live." The man held a knife with a jagged blade at her throat, drawing it across her skin just hard enough to cause droplets of striking red blood to appear. Abby remained still, her lips pressed together in a thin white line. "It would be such a shame to die for someone you don't even know."

Another shallow incision was made to the skin of her throat, parallel to the first mark. Abby still said nothing.

"Agent Fornell," the man addressed the video screen, a hand clenching roughly in Abby's hair as he jerked her head back, baring her throat even more as she was unable to bite back a cry of pain at the action. "You have until noon tomorrow to give us the information you need or Ms. Sciuto dies. We will be in touch."

The screen went black and Director Vance stopped the tape. Silence filled the room for a few moments.

"Do you know where they are?" Ziva asked, breaking the silence as she got to her feet restlessly.

"We are following leads," Fornell answered evasively. "The FBI and NCIS will be working together on this, I assure you. My main concern at the moment is Kelly's safety." He looked to Gibbs once more. "I'd like to assign a protective detail to you both, just in case..."

"In case Abby tells them?" Gibbs arched an eyebrow, his tone deceptively calm. "She won't."

Fornell nodded. "I don't doubt her loyalty to you, Gibbs, but it's possible they'll try to use you to get her to talk."

"NCIS will provide the security detail," Gibbs responded calmly. "There'll be a member of my team with Kelly at all times."

Director Vance belatedly nodded his agreement, knowing the decision wasn't his to make.

"DiNozzo, McGee. Go see what leads the FBI have and follow them up from our end. David, you're with Kelly." Gibbs remained seated as Director Vance left, followed by Fornell, Tony and Tim. He turned to his daughter and opened his arms to her, catching her as she launched herself at him and sobbed on his shoulder. "You'll be okay, Kel. We won't let anything happen to you."

"It's my fault," Kelly sobbed, clinging to him desperately as she buried her face against him. "It's my fault they've got Abby. If she hadn't helped, they wouldn't have gone after her. If I hadn't called you and made you come home, you'd have been with her and wouldn't have let them take her. It's all my fault, Dad. It's all my fault."

Gibbs couldn't comfort her and tell her it wasn't, Ziva noticed. She lowered her gaze as Gibbs stared straight ahead, his eyes blank. She wondered what would happen if the Daniels family kept their promise and the next body they found belonged to Abby. Would Gibbs be able to forgive his daughter? Would he be able to forgive himself after losing another woman he loved?

Ziva bit her lip and told herself firmly that they wouldn't have to find out. Fate surely wasn't so cruel as to give him back his daughter only to take the woman he loved in exchange?

*****


	5. Chapter 5

Two parts in one night - must be a Friday!

*****

Working together, NCIS and the FBI were able to trace the delivery of the recording back to its point of origin. Wearing bullet proof vests and armed to the hilt, they launched a joint operation and stormed the building.

Abby was nowhere to be found.

They found four people, all of whom were identified by Fornell as being part of the group the Daniels family worked with. Each of them was interrogated in turn and each of them told the same story: Abby had escaped and Rick and John Daniels had gone after her.

They arranged a stakeout of the building, hoping the Daniels brothers would find Abby and bring her back but after four days of watching it twenty-four seven, it became clear that no one was coming back.

There was no trace of Abby, no sign of her anywhere.

Everyone they could find who'd been in the area at the time of her escape was questioned but no one remembered seeing her or her pursuers. Her bank accounts remained untouched, her apartment undisturbed. She didn't call anyone for help, not even Gibbs though he'd taken to sleeping fitfully with his cell phone on charge beside him.

Kelly watched her father grow more and more despondent, the shadows under his eyes becoming more pronounced as he ate and slept less, working longer hours whether it was at the Navy Yard or in the basement on his boat.

After a month, the search for Abby was called off.

*****

NCIS was a different place without her. Even those who hadn't known her well seemed more subdued than normal, and the sympathetic looks and whispered conversations that took place whenever Gibbs or a member of his team was in the vicinity started to get too much for them.

The lab was no longer a place of comfort, of laughter and fun as well as science and forensics. Gibbs avoided it at all costs and had barely said two words to the temp who'd been drafted in until a replacement for Abby could be appointed. If he needed something from the lab tech, he'd either order one of the others or wait for them to volunteer.

More often than not, the results were delivered via telephone or email as none of them really wanted to be in her domain without the woman herself.

Though he could still function as team leader and did his job well enough to avoid criticism, no one could deny that Gibbs wasn't the same person as he had been when Abby had been among them. He didn't smile or laugh anymore, or even shake his head at Tony and Tim's antics. He did his best to put on a front when Kelly was around but even she knew there was something different, something missing.

McGee, too, had been hit hard by her disappearance. Although their romantic relationship had long since come to an end, he'd still considered Abby to be one of his closest friends and he struggled not having her there to talk to.

Knowing he was hurting as much as she was if not more, Ziva made a concerted effort to spend time with both McGee and Tony outside of work, initiating more than one trip to the local bar or pizza place. With Kelly's help, she managed to convince Ducky to go with them once or twice but Gibbs never joined them, always deciding to stay home alone with his boat. He seemed to be going out of his way to avoid them outside of work hours, something she knew her colleagues missed and attributed to Abby's absence. Neither McGee or Tony had mentioned his relationship with Abby to his face though she suspected he'd heard them speculate on it before.

Tony was quieter than normal, too, though he did his best to hide it from the others. He'd taken to drinking more than normal, a habit he'd developed after the death of Director Jenny Sheppard, one he'd managed to kick when he returned to NCIS after his temporary assignment as an agent afloat but it was an easy pattern to fall back into. Ziva talked to Ducky about it and they both vowed to keep a close eye on him.

Ducky himself was trying not to let his own grief show. He was perhaps the closest to Abby after Gibbs but he kept his thoughts and feelings to himself, confiding only in Ziva when the Mossad Officer cornered him in the morgue and made him share a pot of tea with her.

Ziva herself missed Abby more than she'd expected. She found keeping herself busy helped, which was why she kept distracting herself by making sure everyone else was okay. At night, though, when she was alone in her apartment, she would sit and remember the times they'd share and wonder if the dull ache in her chest would ever completely go away.

Kelly visited the Navy Yard more and more, volunteering to help them out with their filing or any other admin duties she could do while she waited for her transcripts to be transferred to the local college. She often went on coffee runs for the team, bringing back coffee and tea for those who'd asked it. She made the mistake of coming back with a Caf-Pow for herself once but it was one she would never repeat after seeing the look on her father's face. Ducky later took her to the side to gently explain that Caf-Pow's were closely associated with Abby for them all but especially for her father, who'd bought them for the missing woman regularly as a reward or way of saying thanks.

The longer Abby was gone, the more Kelly learned about her and the more she felt guilty for attempting to drive a wedge between the forensic scientist and her father. She hadn't met anyone who had a bad word to say against the Goth, though many spoke of her with affectionate exasperation as they described her hyper state after Gibbs had given her one too many Caf-Pows.

She heard about Abby's role in her father's life even before they'd become lovers, a fact that was well know throughout the Navy Yard now. It was Abby who encouraged her father to socialise with the others, Abby who always seemed able to comfort him after a hard case.

Kelly stood up as her father and his team returned after interrogating a suspect, returning the half-smile Gibbs gave her with one of her own. She picked her purse up from his desk and gave his shoulder a quick squeeze as he sat down in the chair she'd recently vacated.

"I'm going to go get some food, okay?" She spoke softly, her hand lingering on his shoulder. "You've got to eat, Dad," she continued when he looked like he was about to protest. "So do the others."

"Fine." He attempted a smile of thanks but it didn't reach his eyes. "You want someone to go with you...?"

Kelly shook her head and smiled; all of Fornell's reports had suggested she was out of danger, that the Daniels family were underground, struggling to regroup after the arrest of over half of their associates. "I'll be okay."

She left without asking them what they'd like, having become accustomed to doing the food and coffee runs for them all. She took the car Gibbs had helped her buy and drove off the base, needing to go somewhere a little further afield, needing to put some distance between herself and the place that reminded her daily of her regrettable role in her father's anguish.

*****

The diner was busy but not so much that she decided to go somewhere else. Kelly studied the menu on the counter and chewed on her bottom lip, making a mental list in her mind. She looked around at the diner's patrons, most of them students on lunch break from the local high school. There were two waitresses from what she could see; both of them were blond, both of them rushed off their feet. There was a small door that led to the kitchen behind the counter and she heard a giggle float out from behind it just seconds before it swung open and a third waitress appeared at the counter to take her order.

Kelly could only gape at her for several long moments, taking in the black hair tied back in loose ponytail, the face almost completely devoid of make-up, the warm green eyes and glossy up-turned mouth.

The spider web tattoo emblazoned on the skin of the waitress's neck.

"Abby! Oh, my God!"

The waitress gave her a quizzical look, and it was then that Kelly's attention fell to the name badge on the sky blue blouse she wore.

'Amy'.

"Sorry," she apologised, eyes downcast even as her heart pounded in her chest. "You look like someone I used to know."

"I can't say I get that a lot," the waitress responded with a small laugh. "Now, what can I get for you?"

Kelly placed her order, waited until it was ready and was half-way back to the Navy Yard before she'd realised she'd bought enough food to feed her father's team three times over. She hurried up to the bullpen, her hands full, and placed the food on the desks, leaving them to choose what they wanted as she tried to get Ziva's attention.

"What is it, Kelly?" Ziva asked, popping a hot French fry into her mouth. "You look like you have seen a ghost."

Tony joined the two women at Ziva's desk, a cheeseburger clutched in his hand. "Yeah, kid. You look flustered."

Kelly looked over her shoulder at her father to make sure he wasn't listening before leaning closer to them, her eyes big and bright. "I think I've found her," she told them in an excited whisper. "I think I've found Abby!"

Tony and Ziva looked from her to each other, their food forgotten.

*****


	6. Chapter 6

*****

While Kelly reluctantly followed her father home, Tony, Ziva and McGee made their way to the diner she'd brought their lunch from. They sat themselves at one of the many booths, each looking around anxiously for any trace of her.

Tony snorted as a country song came on the jukebox, a small smirk tugging at his lips. "If Abby is here, this music must be driving her crazy."

"Maybe she is a secret country fan," Ziva suggested, her eyes fixed on the kitchen door as though she expected Abby to appear any moment.

"Gibbs likes country music," McGee pointed out. "He might have converted her."

The three of them looked at one another, then smiled and shook their heads in unison. "Nah."

"You guys ready to order or do ya need more time?" A blond-haired, blue-eyed waitress in a sky-blue shirt and tight black pants stood at the end of their table, order pad and pencil in hand.

"Ah... Can we get two coffees and a strawberry milkshake?" Ziva answered when neither of her companions did. She gave the waitress – Brittany – a warm smile and shook her head. "We haven't decided what we'd like to eat yet."

"Not a problem." Brittany scribbled the order on her pad and slid the pencil into the pocket of her shirt. "I'll go get your drinks, then you can give one of us a holler when you're ready to order your food."

They nursed their drinks for as long as they could and deliberately ordered the items on the menu that would take the longest to prepare. None of them felt hungry but they picked at their food, drawing out the evening in the hopes that Kelly's mystery waitress would appear.

As they sat, Brittany finished her shift and exchanged warm goodbyes with the kitchen staff and the other waitress on duty. She paused at the door to welcome someone – obviously a regular from the enthusiastic greeting they shared – and left the diner.

The newcomer walked passed their table but didn't stop. All they could see was that she had long black hair she wore loose down passed her shoulders, faded blue jeans and a short leather jacket. She disappeared behind the kitchen door, getting each of their hopes up as they realised she was a member of staff and not a customer, returning a few moments later minus the leather jacket with her hair tied up.

Abby.

She headed straight over to their table, order pad in hand and a bright smile on her face. "Can I get you anything else or would you like the bill?"

The name tag on her shirt did indeed say 'Amy' but there was no doubt about it that the woman standing in front of them was their missing friend. No one else could have the same vivid green eyes, even without the spider web tattoo adorning her neck.

"I'd like another coffee, please," McGee said after a moment of staring at her dumbly, kicking Tony's shin under the table.

"Ah, same here. And a slice of the chocolate cake, too." Tony tore his gaze away from her when he realised she was beginning to look uncomfortable. "Ziva?"

Ziva blinked, her gaze still locked on Abby. "I will have another milkshake, please."

"Coming right up." Abby gave them another sunny smile, though a glimmer of uncertainty appeared in her eyes at their rapt attention. She walked away from their table with a slight backwards glance, slipping behind the counter to prepare their drinks. They all watched as she took a small container from under the counter and emptied a few pills into her hand, downing them with a glass of water she poured for herself before cutting a slice of the chocolate cake for Tony and adding the ice cream to Ziva's milkshake.

She returned to them just over five minutes later, a tray expertly balanced in her hands. She didn't need to ask who'd ordered what, putting their drinks and Tony's cake in front of them without so much of a word.

"Your name is Amy?" Ziva's question stopped her from turning away.

Abby met Ziva's gaze and inclined her head slightly. "Amy Sutton," she supplied a little warily. "Though I think I must have an evil twin out there somewhere because you guys aren't the first to come in today and look at me funny."

"Sorry." Tony apologised with a grin that oozed charm. "You're a very beautiful woman."

She blushed but didn't look away. "That's nice of you to say but you're still not gettin' the cake for free."

"You... You look like someone we knew. Know," McGee corrected himself. "She went missing a few months ago."

"I'm sorry to hear that." Abby gave them a genuine smile of sympathy, a hand resting on her hip as a curious expression passed over her features. "There was a girl in here at lunch time. She said I reminded her of someone she used to know, too."

The team exchanged a glance. "Melissa," Tony said with a knowing nod. "She's the one who told us about this place. Said the food was good and she got served by a woman who looked like our friend. Abby. Abby Sciuto."

They watched her closely, hoping for some hint of recognition on her face.

Disappointed when none came.

The phone in the dinner began to ring and another woman appeared from the kitchen, her greying hair tied back into a neat bun, her face flushed with the heat of the room she'd just left.

"Maria's Diner," Maria, the owner and cook, answered the phone with an affectionate smile in Abby's direction. "Mmm-hmmm. Okay, Doc. I'll just get her. Amy!" She held the phone against her shoulder and motioned to Abby. "It's Doctor Kilpatrick for you."

Abby frowned but shook it off quickly. She gave the others a quick smile and hurried behind the counter, taking the phone from Maria. "Doctor Kilpatrick? Hi. I didn't miss an appointment, did I?" She listened for a few moments, then laughed and shook her head. "No, I'm fine. The headache went away after a few hours in a dark room so I think it was just a migraine. Really. Yeah. Okay. I'll see you on Thursday. Bye."

"Everything okay, Amy?" Maria stopped her from disappearing with a hand to her arm. "You're looking better than you did this afternoon, anyway."

"I'm feeling better," Abby answered reassuringly. "It was just a migraine. I feel fine now."

McGee slid his notepad and pen out of his pocket, writing down the name 'Doctor Kilpatrick' as Ziva and Tony looked on approvingly. The notepad and pen were hastily pushed back into his pocket as Abby returned with the bill.

Tony got out his wallet, waving away Ziva and McGee's attempts to pay for their share. He flipped it open, his badge resting on the table as he slid out a twenty-dollar bill and held it out to her.

Abby didn't take it, her eyes fixed on his NCIS badge instead.

She reached out to touch it, her fingers tracing over the number engraved into the surface of the metal badge, her eyes narrowed in thought.

"You recognise it?" Tony asked, his voice quiet so not as to jolt her from her thoughts.

Abby nodded and stared at the badge, fixated. She looked away only to take her order pad from her pocket, scribbling a number onto it before setting it on the table beside Tony's badge. "The numbers are different," she murmured, mostly to herself.

"Every Special Agent has their own number," McGee informed her, looking curiously at the one she'd written down. He didn't recognise it.

"Could you... Can you trace a person by their badge number?" Abby lifted her head from the badge. "If that number corresponds with someone... Will you be able to tell?"

"We will." Ziva picked the piece of paper with the number from the table and folded it carefully. "Would you like us to?"

Abby hesitated. She lifted a hand to her head, rubbing her temples as her brow furrowed. "Yeah. Yeah, I think I would. Maybe. I don't really know." She shrugged her shoulders, a confused expression on her face, and took the twenty-dollar bill Tony had put on the table. "I'll be back with your change."

She didn't come back. It was Maria who brought the receipt and change back to them, Maria who cleared the table.

Ziva slid the piece of paper into her pocket, giving up hope that Abby would reappear. She already suspected who the badge number belonged to and knew why Abby had recognised Tony's badge but she wouldn't tell Tony and McGee that.

She'd made a promise once and had no intention of breaking it.

*****

"Amy Sutton? Like, from the Sweet Valley books?" Kelly looked between the agents with a frown. "Is that where she got the name from?"

She sat in the bullpen at her father's desk as Gibbs paced, the piece of paper Ziva had given him clutched in his hand. She watched him carefully, wondering why he wasn't more pleased that his agents had confirmed Abby was alive and well and living not too far from them.

"Sweet Valley...?" Ziva arched an eyebrow from her seat at her own desk. "I am not familiar with that series."

"You wouldn't be," Kelly explained patiently. "It was written a while ago, when I was growing up. It's for teenage girls. There are loads of novels. Sweet Valley Kids, Sweet Valley Twins, Sweet Valley High and Sweet Valley University. They started getting a bit weird near the end of the Sweet Valley High series so I stopped reading them but I definitely recognise the name Amy Sutton. She was Elizabeth's best friend, I think." She tilted her head to the side thoughtfully. "Do you think Abby used to read them?"

"No... Though I think McGeek has some explaining to do." Tony glanced at the pink-faced Special Agent. "You named a character in your book after Abby... after a character in a series written for teenagers?"

McGee shrugged his shoulders. "Unintentionally," he insisted. "I never read those books!"

Tony didn't look convinced and even Ziva struggled to stifle a smile.

"Moving on from Probie's secret love of teenage fiction," Tony continued with a smirk at his friend, "it looks like Abby's suffering from some kind of amnesia. McGee and Ducky are both trying to find this Doctor Kilpatrick she mentioned so we can get confirmation on that. We need to figure out who the badge number relates to and why she would remember it..."

"She doesn't remember it." Gibbs broke the silence he'd lapsed into ever since they'd told him she'd been found. He looked at the piece of paper in his hand against before scrunching it up into a ball and throwing it into the bin. "It's my badge number. Abby has it tattooed on her hip."

"What...?" Tony stopped mid-step, his eyebrows lifting in surprise. "Why does she have your badge number...?"

"Not just the badge number, Tony," Ziva answered for Gibbs. "She has his badge tattooed on her left hip, along with the phrase 'Semper Fidelis'."

Tony and McGee wore identical looks of realisation. "Her newest tattoo," Tony breathed. "The one she wouldn't let me see."

"She branded herself?" McGee, realisation turning into astonishment, sat down heavily in his chair. "She told me she'd never do that for anyone. Relationships can end but tattoos last a lifetime."

Gibbs said nothing, his mind going back to his own discovery of Abby's tattoo. She had got it the day they became lovers; in fact, it was due to the tattoo and his need to see it that they'd finally crossed the line from friends and colleagues into more. The thought of it permanently etched onto her skin, serving as a reminder of their bond even when she couldn't remember who he was offered a little comfort though he hated the thought of anyone else admiring it the way he himself had done on many occasions.

"We should go back to the diner," Kelly declared, successfully diverting the attention from her father for a few moments. "The more we see her, the more she might start to remember..."

"I wouldn't advise that, my dear." Ducky joined the conversation as he walked towards them from the stairs leading up to MTAC. "If Tony is right and Abby is suffering from some form of amnesia, forcing her to remember too soon might result in more harm being done than good. We mustn't rush her, no matter how much we want to bring her home."

Disappointed, Kelly sunk back against her father's chair, arms crossed over her chest as she half-listened to the rest of the conversation. She understood why the others couldn't go and see her; Abby might recognise them since she knew them so well. But...

There was no reason she couldn't go, especially if no one else found out about it.

*****


	7. Chapter 7

*****

Kelly sat at the counter, idly playing with a sachet of sugar as she waited for Abby to become available to take her order. She glanced around the diner, watching families eat their meals between bouts of laughter and affectionate teasing, wishing she didn't feel envious of what their children had.

She watched Abby pause to talk to a girl a few years younger than she was, watched as the dark-haired woman leaned over the girl's shoulder to look at something in the textbook opened on the counter in front of them. The two exchanged smiles and an easy laugh and something inside Kelly twisted even further; she knew she could've been that girl if she hadn't let her own insecurities get the better of her.

Eventually, Abby returned to the counter, her smile never faltering as she took her place behind it opposite Kelly. "You're becoming a regular around here," she greeted her warmly. "What can I get for you today?"

Kelly gave the menu a cursory glance. "Can I have a cup of coffee and a brownie, please?"

"Cream and sugar, right?" Abby barely waited for Kelly's affirmative nod before starting to fix her order. "You just move to the area or something?"

"Or something." Kelly gave a small shrug when Abby glanced at her. "You should get a Caf-Pow machine in here."

"Caf-Pow?" Abby frowned as she repeated the phrase, shaking her head after a few moments. "Don't think I've ever heard of it. What is it?"

Disappointment on her face, Kelly stared glumly into the cup of coffee she found placed in front of her. "Just a drink," she muttered. "Caffeine-based. It's a good seller in most coffee shops. I... I knew someone once who couldn't get enough of them."

Grabbing a cloth to wipe the counter, Abby gave her a small smile. "Someone close to you?"

"No." Kelly looked up ruefully. "Someone I didn't like, actually. I didn't want to like her so I didn't give her a chance." She shrugged and stared back down into her coffee cup. "I regret that now."

"Why didn't you want to like her?" Abby blushed and shrugged when Kelly glanced up again. "Sorry, it's none of my business but you look like you need to talk. I've been told I'm a good listener if you're interested."

"Thanks." Flashing her a genuine smile, Kelly took a sip of her coffee while Abby served another customer. "She was my Dad's girlfriend," she said when Abby returned to her. "He loves her so much and because of me, she's not around anymore. I guess... I guess I wanted my dad to myself, y'know? I missed out on spending time with him when I was a kid because of stuff that was going on and when I finally got the chance to know him, I found there was this other woman in his life who he completely adored and I couldn't handle that."

Abby shook her head. "He's your father," she pointed out quietly. "Surely this woman should've understood that you wanted and needed to spend time with him on your own?"

Kelly grimaced at the thought of Abby criticising herself. "That's just it," she continued, guilt clear on her face. "She did understand. She gave us space. She didn't do anything wrong but I did everything I could to keep them apart. She was great about the whole thing, always nice to me while I acted like a bitch and interrupted them every time I knew they were together. And after she... After she left, I found out that she's the one who made it possible for me and Dad to be together again in the first place and now I'll never get the chance to thank her."

She didn't realise she was crying until Abby gave her a handful of napkins and patted her hand gently. "I'm sure it's not your fault," Abby murmured soothingly. "Maybe they would've broken up anyway. You can't blame yourself for a decision two adults made. Besides," she offered Kelly a bright smile, "maybe they'll get back together one day and you'll get to thank her then."

"I hope so," Kelly murmured, her eyes locking with Abby's. "I really do."

Abby gave her another smile but ended up rolling her eyes as a song came on the jukebox in the corner of the room. "Stupid song. I swear someone keeps playing it to wind me up."

Kelly returned her smile and watched as she walked away to serve someone else, listening to the lyrics of the song as she recognised one of the country singers her Dad had tried to get her to listen to when she was a kid.

_"Oh, I'll never get over those blue eyes,  
I see them everywhere.  
And I miss those arms that held me,  
When all the love was there..."_

*****

The mysterious Doctor Kilpatrick was found on Thursday morning. Neither Gibbs or Kelly were prepared for their reaction when the woman's image appeared on screen.

"Mom!"

Shannon Gibbs – Doctor Isabelle Kilpatrick – smiled at them from the screen, her long red-hair replaced by a blond bob.

Gibbs numbly held his daughter, staring at the screen as his thoughts raced.

"Abby's doctor is Shannon?" Tony rubbed his head and sat down heavily at his desk. "I'm beginning to get a headache now."

"Contact Fornell," Gibbs ordered, his hand rubbing Kelly's back in slow, soothing circles. "See if he knows anything about Shannon being in a witness protection programme, too."

He closed his eyes against the memories of being told they were dead, against the pain and grief he'd felt, against the almost overwhelming desire he'd had to join them. He remembered seeing the elder Daniels grinning smugly as he walked away from the trial that should've sent him to prison, free due to a technicality as much as because the star witness was dead.

He remembered seeing that smug face in the crosshairs, remembered pulling the trigger.

Remembered drinking himself into oblivion night after night with Mike Franks at his side, convinced there was nothing left in his life worth living for.

"Let go, Kels," he told his daughter softly, dropping his arms from her as she stepped back.

"Where are you going, Dad?" Kelly watched him reach for his badge, his hand hesitating over his gun before he left it in place in the top drawer of his desk. "Dad?"

"Ducky, check out the prescriptions she's written for Abby. I want to know what's going on with her." Gibbs ignored his daughter and strode to the elevator, unsurprised when Kelly joined him, slipping inside the metal box just as the doors began to close. "Kelly..."

"You're going to see her," Kelly said softly. "I want to come, too."

He wanted to tell her no, to order her to stay behind but when he looked into her eyes, he saw the same anguish, the same anger he knew was in his own. "Okay." He lifted one hand to wipe the tears from her cheeks, love for his daughter welling up inside him even as his confused mind tried to make sense of what he was feeling for Shannon and Abby. "You can come."

They journeyed to the office listed as Doctor Kilpatrick's practise in silence, both reeling from the new twist in their lives, both wondering how it would end.

*****


	8. Chapter 8

Author's Note: Thanks to everyone for the fantastic support so far – you guys completely rock. Please don't hate me for this part. I know some people won't like what I've chosen to do here and I'm sorry for that.

*****

The office was smart and presentable. They were forced to wait in the plush reception area while the secretary, Cheryl Imes, informed Doctor Kilpatrick of their arrival. After a few moments, the door to the inner office opened and a stunned-looking Shannon Gibbs, blond haired but just as beautiful as they remembered, appeared to usher them inside.

She didn't speak until the door was closed securely behind them, didn't make a move to embrace either her former husband or her daughter.

"What are you doing here?" She asked instead, walking on unsteady legs to sit behind her desk, using it to put some distance between them. "You were never supposed to find me."

"I take it you're not pleased." Gibbs met her gaze evenly, searching her face for some trace of the warm and loving woman he remembered.

He found none.

"No, I'm not," Shannon answered with brutal honesty. "I have a new life, Jethro. A new family. One I love and can't afford to lose."

"What about me?" Kelly demanded, her heart pounding in her chest as she looked between her parents, the two people she'd dreamt of hundreds if not thousands of times. Every time she'd allowed herself to daydream about a family reunion, to imagine it was possible to be with her parents again... "Don't you care that I'm alive?"

"Of course I care, Kelly." Shannon smiled, their first glimpse of the woman they had once known. "I've known for some time that you were alive and I've done everything I can to help protect you and keep you safe."

Kelly snorted and crossed her arms over her chest. "Then why didn't you come to me? Why weren't we put together?"

"It was safer this way." Shannon motioned to the two seats opposite her desk. "Please, sit down. We have a lot to talk about." Both Kelly and Gibbs took the seats she indicated but neither of them spoke. Shannon sighed heavily and reached into the top drawer of her large mahogany desk. She drew out a sealed envelope and held it out to Gibbs. "This is for you, Jethro. I promised Ms. Sciuto I'd give it to you when I saw you."

Gibbs took the envelope, glancing down at the familiar handwriting that graced the front. Abby's curvy script with her trademark skull and crossbones sketched beneath his name.

"I suppose you want to know how she came to be my patient." Shannon waited for a response, unsurprised when she didn't get one. "I was aware that the Daniels brothers took her. My contact with the FBI told me what she'd done for Kelly and told me when she was abducted. They were keeping an eye on the building when she made her escape and brought her to me after helping her evade Rick and John. She needed medical attention but she would've made a full recovery..."

"What about the amnesia?" Gibbs found himself leaning forward in his chair, the letter grasped lightly in his hand. "If she was okay..."

Shannon met and held his gaze. "It was something we discussed. We decided it was better for Abby Sciuto to stop existing so the Daniels brothers wouldn't be able to ask her about Kelly, or about myself."

"The pills." His eyes were narrowed, his expression cold. Kelly bit back a whimper from her place in the seat beside him, disturbed at the sight of her father so angry with the woman who'd once been her mother. "You gave her the pills so she'd forget? You didn't think to get the FBI involved, to get me involved...?"

"That was exactly what I wanted to avoid, Jethro," Shannon told him softly. "I'm so sorry for everything you've been through, for all of the pain and suffering both you and Kelly have suffered. I went through it, too. At the time, there was no way we could all be together again and now..."

"Now you've got a new life. A new family."

Shannon glanced at the photograph on her desk, one neither Kelly or Gibbs could see. A soft smile appeared on her lips momentarily, love and devotion clear to read in her eyes. "I do. I never thought I'd fall in love again but I did. I found someone else." She lifted her eyes to Gibbs and shrugged her shoulders helplessly. "I won't deny that there's part of me that still loves you, Jethro, because there is. There always will be. I just... I moved on. I had no choice. I couldn't waste my life wishing for something that could never be again."

Gibbs didn't comment that he'd spent ten years doing just that, going from marriage to marriage in an attempt at recapturing what he'd shared with Shannon until he'd been fortunate enough to fall again for Abby Sciuto.

"You don't want to be part of our lives," Kelly realised, her hands clasped tightly in her lap, fingernails digging into her palms. "You don't love us anymore."

"I'll always love you. Both of you." Shannon shook her blond head. "But I can't be part of your lives, Kelly. Too much has happened..."

The three of them sat together in silence for several long moments, reluctant to acknowledge that what she said was true. Gibbs stared at her and tried to see his wife, tried to feel the love and affection he knew still lived inside him for his Shannon.

It was still there, still burning inside him, but it didn't come to the surface when he looked at this woman, at Isabelle Kilpatrick. She was a stranger to him, not the woman he still sometimes mourned.

He concentrated on picturing the woman he loved, the one he wanted to kiss and hold and grow old with.

His mind's eye supplied him with an image of Abby, green eyes dancing as her darkly painted lips smiled beautifully at him.

"Did you tell Abby you had no intention of being part of our lives?" Gibbs asked, his gaze dropping to the letter he still held. "When you discussed this with her, convinced her that by forgetting she could protect us all... Did you tell her you weren't planning on coming back to me?"

"No." Shannon shook her head and stared at the photograph on her desk once more. "She didn't ask."

He nodded slowly, trying to imagine Abby's reaction to finding out his late wife was suddenly as alive and well as his late daughter. "She assumed, though. She assumed we'd get back together."

"Probably." Shannon looked up momentarily, a glimmer of regret flickering in her eyes. "She loves you. She didn't want to do anything that would risk you losing Kelly again."

"Do you have more kids?" Kelly asked before Gibbs could respond. "Is that why you don't want to be my mom anymore?"

Shannon closed her eyes momentarily. "I don't not want to be your mom, Kelly. I would love to be able to go back in time and have things be the way they were before any of this happened but I can't."

"You didn't answer the question," Kelly retorted. "You said you have a new husband you're in love with. I wanna know if you've got new kids, too."

"I have a son and a daughter," Shannon answered after a momentary pause. "And I love them both very much."

Another silence crept into the office, one that was broken by the sound of the intercom on Shannon's desk buzzing. She cleared her throat before pressing the button. "Yes?"

"Doctor Kilpatrick, Ms. Sutton is here for her appointment."

"Give me a few minutes, Cheryl, then send her in." Shannon looked up from the intercom speakers into the eyes of her former husband and daughter. "You're going to have to leave now."

"Why is she here?" Gibbs' eyes were narrowed, the letter crushed in his hand. His heart raced at the thought of being so close to Abby for the first time in months. So close but unable to touch her, a thought he found almost unbearable.

Shannon shrugged but struggled to meet his gaze. "She's due a repeat prescription," she admitted eventually. "I have it ready for her here... Jethro." Her eyes lifted to his in surprise when he reached out and grabbed her wrist, preventing her from lifting the small bottle she'd motioned to on her desk. "You're hurting me."

"You're not giving her anymore of those pills," Gibbs told her, his voice low, bordering on threatening. "They're poison."

"They're harmless," Shannon protested.

"I bet to differ." Gibbs didn't release her wrist until she inclined her head in submission. "Is there somewhere we can wait without her seeing us?"

"There's a storage room through there. It's not very big but she won't be here long." Shannon rubbed her wrist as he stood, ushering Kelly with him. She watched them disappear into the room and almost close the door behind them before getting to her own feet and heading to her office door. Part of her wanted to take the pills and give them to Abby in the reception area, lying about a migraine of her own to get the other woman to leave without entering the office but the professional part of her mind wouldn't let her; Abby was still her patient and had entrusted her with her health when she'd made the decision to forget her life. "Come on in, Amy. Please, take a seat."

Abby sat down in the seat Gibbs had so recently vacated, curling a leg beneath herself as she clasped her hands in her lap. She looked at Shannon expectedly, an eyebrow arching slightly but holding her tongue when the doctor put the bottle of pills in her top drawer instead of handing them to her.

"How are you doing?" Shannon asked instead, crossing her hands on her desk and leaning forward in her chair. "Any more headaches than usual?"

"A few," Abby admitted, fidgeting with her hands. "It's been really busy at the diner recently."

"Oh?" Shannon fixed an interested smile on her face, grateful for the opening Abby had unwittingly given her. "New customers or just a lot of regulars?"

Abby shrugged and smiled. "A combination, really," she explained softly. "There've been a few new ones in who look like they might become regulars."

"Any you'd like to talk about...?" Shannon watched her hesitate before shaking her head. "Come on, Amy. You can be honest with me."

There was a moment of silence as Abby considered it. Shannon glanced towards the slightly open door with a frown when it moved a little but Abby, thankfully, didn't notice.

"There's a girl," Abby said eventually. She looked down at her clasped hands as she spoke. "She's been in a few times and I get the feeling... I just..." She sighed and shook her head. "It sounds stupid."

"I'm sure it doesn't," Shannon encouraged gently, not really wanting to have the conversation with Gibbs and Kelly in a position to listen but unable to keep herself from responding to her patient's need to talk. "Just tell me, Amy. You know I won't ridicule anything you say in here."

"It's her eyes," Abby blurted out, running an agitated hand through her hair. "I get this feeling like I should know her and then I look her in the eyes and I *know* I know her eyes from somewhere. But it's... It's different, somehow. They're different. They just remind me of something or someone and it's frustrating because I can't remember what."

Shannon found herself sympathising with Abby's frustration, even as she hoped the younger woman never remembered whose blue eyes Kelly's reminded her of. "Is there anything else other than the girl that's bothering you?"

Abby rolled her eyes. "Only that someone in the diner is obsessed with this country song about missing someone with blue eyes, which isn't helping. I recognise the singer but I'm pretty sure I don't like country music." She smiled slightly. "Other than that, I'm doing okay."

"You've not remembered anything, then?" Trying to conceal her relief, Shannon gave Abby a reassuring smile when the dark haired woman shook her head in disappointment. "That's okay, Amy. Don't put so much pressure on yourself. When the time is right, I'm sure you'll start to remember. Until then..."

The office door opened before she could continue and her secretary walked in behind an older gentleman, Cheryl's face flushed as she stammered her apologies. "I'm sorry, Doctor Kilpatrick. He insisted you were expecting him..."

"Perhaps you should have informed your staff I was coming, Doctor Kilpatrick?" He gave Shannon a cursory glance as she frowned at him and held out a hand to Abby. "Ms. Sutton, I presume. I'm Doctor Mallard. Doctor Donald Mallard. Doctor Kilpatrick asked me to consult on your case."

"Did she...?" Abby glanced quizzically at Shannon even as she stood and took Ducky's outstretched hand.

Ducky gave Shannon a harsh glance when he was certain Abby wasn't looking. "Indeed she did, my dear. She asked my help in suggesting alternate therapies to help you regain your memories. The first course of action will be to alter your medication slightly." He put the hand that wasn't still holding hers into his pocket and withdrew a bottle of pills. "It's the same form of painkiller but in a slightly different dose."

Abby took the bottle from him and stared at the label, a small smile suddenly appearing on her lips. "Donald Mallard?" She repeated, lifting green eyes to meet his pale blue ones. "As in Donald Duck and the mallard duck? Really?"

A smile spread across his face, affectionate and warm. "Exactly," he responded almost proudly. "Most people call me Ducky as a result."

"Ducky," Abby repeated the nickname slowly, shaking her head after a few moments. "It suits you somehow," she murmured.

"I'm pleased you think so." Ducky's beam widened. "My contact details are on the bottle. If you need a repeat prescription and Doctor Kilpatrick isn't available, please don't hesitate in getting in touch with me."

"Okay." Abby slipped the bottle into the purse she put over her shoulder. "I've got to get back," she apologised, glancing uncertainly at Shannon. "I said I'd take a double shift at the diner because Mary's son's sick."

Shannon gave her a smile that didn't reach her eyes. "That's fine, Amy. Make your next appointment with Cheryl before you leave and I'll discuss Doctor Mallard's involvement in your treatment with you next time." She stood and shook Abby's hand, waiting until the door had closed behind her secretary and patient before turning on Ducky. "Who are you?"

"I can answer that." Gibbs slid out of the storage room, holding Kelly's hand tightly in his. Shannon noticed her eldest daughter didn't look at her, just cuddled further into her father's side. "Doctor Mallard works with me at NCIS. He'll be overseeing Abby's prescriptions from now on."

"You can't do this, Jethro." Shannon turned her ire to her former husband. "If she remembers and they find her again, they'll torture her until she tells them what they want to know. Is that really what you want for her?"

"They'll torture her if they find her whether she remembers or not," Gibbs shot back just as fiercely. "And no matter what they did to her, she wouldn't tell them anything. Abby's not that kind of person."

"You'd risk your daughter's life to prove that? Do you really trust her that much?" Shannon's hand clenched into a fist against her hip.

Kelly spoke up there, glaring at her mother with the cold eyes she'd inherited from her father. "You don't care about me," she accused. "You're just trying to protect yourself."

"Kel..."

"No. You can't call me that anymore." Kelly shook her head and tightened her hold on her father's hand. "I wish we'd never found out you were alive," she declared bitterly. "You don't give a damn about me or Dad or Abby. You just care about yourself and your perfect little family and you don't care who gets hurt as long as you're happy. I don't know you anymore. You're not my mom."

The woman who had been Shannon Gibbs didn't protest. She bowed her head and clasped her hands in front of her, letting a heavy silence fill the room.

A sob catching in her throat, Kelly Gibbs fled the room, her father following after throwing Shannon an icy glare.

Ducky remained behind, his own eyes frosty as he met Shannon's gaze. "Tell me what you know about Abby's condition," he ordered.

Shannon sank into her chair, her shoulders slumped.

*****

Authors Note 2: For the record, I adore the character of Shannon Gibbs and I hope it doesn't come across that I don't. I just think that she's had over a decade to create a new life – she wouldn't have spent forever brooding over what couldn't be, though she would've done at first, I'm sure.


	9. Chapter 9

*****

The letter burnt a hole in his pocket but Gibbs couldn't bring himself to open it until Kelly was sleeping fitfully in her room. He closed his daughter's bedroom door behind him, knowing the memory of his daughter crying herself to sleep would stay with him for a long time. He made his way to the basement but instead of busying himself with his tools and his boat, he poured himself a stiff drink and sat at the stool next to his work bench – Abby's stool, his mind provided – and opened the envelope with fingers that trembled.

At first, he couldn't read the actual words. All he could see was her handwriting, all he could remember were the little notes she'd given him over the years – platonic notes of friendship, teasing notes to brighten his day, less-platonic notes slipped between the pages of her reports or scattered around his house after their relationship had changed.

It took all of one glass and almost all of another to get himself to concentrate on what she'd actually written.

# Dear Gibbs – my silver-haired fox,

If you're reading this, then you've found Shannon or vice-versa. I'm glad.

I don't want you to think I'm some kind of saint or saviour for doing this; I'm not. I'm just being selfish. I know if it came down to a choice between me or Shannon, she would always win. I don't want to put you in that position in the first place because I know what a good man you are and I know you'd suffer whatever the decision you made so I'm making it for you. You have the love of your life back, Gibbs. Make the most of your life together and please be happy. You do deserve it no matter what you think.

I chose to forget so there's no chance I can put your happiness, or Kelly or Shannon, at risk. I also chose to forget because I thought it'd be the easier option than having to live the rest of my life knowing you're out there but can't be part of my life in the way I want you to be. Selfish, like I said. I'm doing this to stop myself from hurting, Gibbs, so please don't feel bad about it.

Thank you for your friendship and love, for your patience and faith in me. It's meant so much to me that I don't know how exactly to put it into words.

I've got to go now, get this started before I change my mind.

Be happy, please.

All my love, for always,

Abs. #

Tears slipped unchecked down his cheeks, tears he wasn't even aware he was crying until his daughter wrapped her arms around him. He covered her hands with one of his own, gripping the letter with the other. He made no sound, just held on as tightly as he was being held and willed the pain away.

*****

A few weeks later, Gibbs let Kelly talk him into going with her to the diner. He made it clear to her that they weren't going to engage Abby in conversation but the change to be able to see her in something other than his dreams and memories was too much of an opportunity to miss.

They sat at a booth at the back and watched her from afar, torn between disappointment and relief that she wasn't their assigned waitress. Gibbs studied her closely, only half-paying attention to Kelly's chattering about her plans for the future, though his daughter understood and smiled at him to show as much whenever he looked at her in apology.

Abby smiled at something one of her customers said to her but Gibbs noticed it wasn't the same smile usually gave him. It wasn't as wide, didn't reach her eyes. Her eyes that, even without as much eyeliner or eye make-up as usual, could still cause his breath to catch in his throat from across a crowded room.

She walked around the diner with an easy grace he recognised, her hips swaying gently even though he was sure she wasn't aware of it. She stopped to talk to someone else, a regular, and while she appeared outwardly to be relaxed and calm, he could tell just by looking at the line of her back and shoulders that inwardly she wanted to be somewhere else.

"She looks sad," Kelly observed, keeping her voice quiet as she snuggled into his side. "Do you think she's maybe starting to remember?"

"Maybe." He watched her shoulders slump as she escaped from yet another customer who wanted to chat, the smile slipping from her face when she thought no one was paying her any attention. She did look sad, he realised, sad and tired. Not at all like the Abby he knew and loved. "You ready to go?" He asked Kelly, not wanting to stay and risk being seen, not wanting to stay and risk his old memories of Abby be overshadowed by the sense of loss he felt looking at her now.

Kelly hesitated. She bit her bottom lip and shook her head when he looked at her. "Can I stay a little longer?" She gave him a smile when he arched an eyebrow, her crossed fingers slipping out of sight underneath the table. "I won't talk to her, promise. I just want to hang out for a bit. There's a nice atmosphere here..."

Her father gave her a long look but relented with a sigh, passing her the keys to his car as he slid out of the booth. "Don't stay out too late," he warned, his gaze softening when he looked down at her. His daughter. "Drive safe, Kels."

"I will, Dad." She tilted her face to accept the kiss he placed on her cheek, smiling and waving at him when he glanced back to look at her from the doorway of the diner.

Her father gone, Kelly let her smile slip as a determined expression took its place. She scanned the diner for Abby, catching a glimpse of the black-haired woman disappearing behind the swinging kitchen door and pushed herself out of the booth so she could follow.

*****

Her head was aching but nowhere near as much as her heart.

Abby had noticed them first come into the diner and she'd begged with Brittany to switch tables so she wouldn't have to serve them. She couldn't look at them, look at Gibbs, and trust herself not to say or do something that would give her away. She couldn't serve them and pretend she didn't remember how it felt to sleep curled up against him, how his hands felt against her skin or his lips felt against hers.

Her memories were returning slowly but surely and the more they did, the more it hurt. She couldn't sleep at night for remembering, couldn't close her eyes without worrying that she'd dream about one of the unpleasant moments from her past or, arguably worse, dreaming about spending the night with Gibbs only to wake up reaching for him, heartbroken all over again when she remembered why he wasn't there.

She stayed as far away from their booth as possible, aware Gibbs was watching her, feeling the heat of his gaze burn her skin even through the uniform shirt she wore. She waited until they were distracted in conversation before walking passed them, sticking to the less brightly lit areas of the diner until she saw him get up and leave.

When he was gone, she was alarmed to find tears stinging her eyes and made a quick escape through to the kitchen, telling a concerned Maria she was fine even as she wiped tears from her cheeks. Before Maria could push her, the doors swung open again and they both looked up.

Kelly Gibbs stood and stared at her, her blue eyes wide with undisguised hope. "You remember me, don't you?" She asked in a whisper. "You know who I am."

Abby found herself nodding before she'd consciously decided to confirm Kelly's belief and was quickly engulfed in a fierce hug by the young woman she was convinced hated her. "Kelly..."

"You've got to come back," Kelly mumbled, clinging to Abby stubbornly. "Please say you'll come back."

Her arms went around Kelly easily but Abby couldn't bring herself to make the promise Kelly wanted. Instead, she kept her silence and patted the young woman on the back awkwardly.

After a while, Kelly noticed her silence and drew back, her eyes bright with unshed tears. "You have to come back, Abby. My Dad needs you to."

"No, he doesn't." Abby took a step back, crossing her arms over her chest when she'd put some distance between them. "You guys have the chance to have the life you've both always dreamt about. I can't stand in the way of that, Kelly."

"You're not," Kelly told her insistently. "If you're worried about my mom, you don't need to be. She lied to you. She doesn't want to be my mom anymore and she doesn't want to get back with my dad. She's got a new husband, new kids... Please, Abby. We both want you to come back. I'm sorry I was such a cow and that I upset you and tried to screw things up. I was being selfish. I just wanted to keep my dad to myself and I didn't stop to think what was best for him or you or for me, really, in the long-run."

"Take a breath," Abby advised, a glimmer of a smile on her face. She'd never imagined any child of Gibbs' could rival her in the babbling stakes but Kelly seemed to be doing a good job. With a little more time and a few hints and tips... She shook herself mentally; she wouldn't be spending 'a little more time' with Kelly. She couldn't. "I don't know what your Mom's told you but she loves you. She and I both agreed this was the best way to protect you both and I can't go back on that. Your father... It would kill him to lose you again. Even if it doesn't work out between him and your mom, he loves you too much to survive losing you again."

The shimmer of Kelly's eyes startled her. The younger woman took a step forward, mouth open as if to protest, but the sound of screams and cries cut her off before she could even begin. Maria bustled passed them, out into the main cafe, just in time to hear an angry shout.

"I want Abby Sciuto and I want her now. Anyone who tries to leave before I have her dies."

*****


	10. Chapter 10

*****

He was half-way home when the cell phone in his pocket began to ring. Gibbs was tempted to ignore it at first but when he glanced at the display and saw Kelly's name, he immediately flipped it open and answered it.

There was no response at first, just the faint sound of static. He thought about hanging up, but then heard his daughter whisper and his blood ran cold.

"They're here, Dad. The Daniels are here. They know Abby's here and they said they're gonna kill anyone who tries to leave. I'm scared, Dad."

"I'm on my way, Kels. Is Abby there with you?" Gibbs did an abrupt turn, his pace speeding up until he was jogging back towards the cafe.

There was a slight pause, then Kelly gave him the answer he was dreading. "No. I'm in the kitchen. She said I had to stay here, out of sight, so they didn't know I was here. She's gone through to make sure they don't hurt anyone and to try and make them let the others go. She said I should call you and let you know what's going on and see if you want me to call anyone else with her cell phone."

"You've got another phone?" Gibbs didn't wait for a response, reaching for the gun he wore in his holster. He could hear people crying before the cafe came into sight and was relieved to see a small crowd of people running towards their cars, or along the street, from the front exit. "I think someone out here will call the cops but I need you to call DiNozzo and get the team here fast."

He reeled off Tony's cell phone number and listened as she spoke on Abby's cell phone. He was close enough to the cafe to see inside but didn't want to get too close in case those inside saw him.

"Oh, God." An older woman with tears streaming down her cheek half-ran, half-walked from the cafe, blinded by her tears. "I need to call the police... Amy... They've got Amy..."

"Ma'am?" Gibbs held out a hand to stop her from wandering away from him. "I'm Special Agent Gibbs, NCIS. Can you tell me how many more people are in the cafe?"

"Name's Maria," she told him quietly, her face pale with shock. "I own the cafe... There are two men. They have guns. Amy's in there talking to them. She made them let everyone else go. Said she wouldn't tell them what they want to know if they hurt anyone." Maria frowned. "They kept calling her Abby. I don't know why. That's not her name. Her name's Amy." She shook her head and stared off into space. "There's just the three of them. And the girl in the back but Amy hasn't said anything about her. She called her Abby, too."

"Her name is Abby. Abby Sciuto. She's... She's a witness in a case," Gibbs fibbed. He let go of her arm. "Ma'am... Maria, I'm going to need your help till my team gets here. Can you help keep everyone away from the front of the cafe? Even the ones who want to play hero. They'll just get themselves and other people hurt."

Maria nodded, the colour coming back into her face slowly at the thought of having something to do. "I can do that," she murmured. "Keep them all back."

He let her go and focused his attention back on the cell phone in his hand, listening in as Kelly hung up on Tony and started talking to him again.

"They're five minutes away, Dad. Tony has Ziva and Tim with him."

"Good, that's good." Gibbs knelt behind the car closest the cafe and peered over the bonnet at the double windows. "I'm right outside, Kelly. If I come round to the back, is there a door I can come in through? One that isn't alarmed?"

There was a short pause as Kelly shuffled around the kitchen, doing her best not to make any noise that might alert the Daniels to her whereabouts. "There's a door that's open."

"Good. Go outside and wait for me. I'm on my way."

"I'm not leaving her," Kelly refused. "It's my fault they're after her, Dad!"

"Honey, Abby wouldn't want you to put yourself in danger. She did this so they couldn't hurt you." Gibbs moved along the side of the car, towards the side of the building. "Meet me outside, Kelly."

His daughter huffed in protest but was standing outside by the door when he got there. She slipped into his arms easily, hugging him quickly before stepping back. "She's in there. They keep shouting at her but she won't tell them anything. I think they're going to hurt her, Dad. She's not telling them anything and they seem really desperate."

"I'll make sure Abby's okay but to do that, I need to know you're safe." Gibbs gave her the most reassuring smile he could. "Go round the front and wait for the team. Tell them I'm inside waiting for a signal. They'll know what to do."

Unconvinced but having faith in her father, Kelly did as he ordered. Gibbs waited for a second, making sure was really gone, and slipped inside, gun in hand.

He heard voices as he got closer to the front of the cafe, the angry tones of one of the Daniels brothers and the calmer, though no less steely tone of Abby. He heard her refuse yet again to give up Kelly's whereabouts and felt both pride and concern at her determination.

"I'm running out of patience, Ms. Sciuto. Last chance. Tell me where she is or we'll kill you."

"Then kill me," Abby retorted, no shake detectable in her voice. "Because I'm never going to tell you, no matter what you do to me."

Something crashed to the ground and shattered. Gibbs tightened his hold on the gun.

"She's nothing to you," the same man retorted. "Just tell us where she is."

Gibbs peered through the small window in the door in time to see Abby shake her head. "You have no idea what she is to me," Abby answered eventually. "Neither does she."

The one giving the orders took a menacing step forward, waving his gun in his hand. "Then this is where we part ways, Ms. Sciuto. We'll find her without you."

"Good luck with that," Abby retorted. "The cops'll be here any minute."

"Exactly why we plan on using you as our hostage," the second spoke for the first time, a cruel smile on his face. He was the one, Gibbs noted, who'd appeared on the video Fornell had received. He was the older of the two brothers, calmer, more collected. Even more dangerous even though he stepped between his brother's gun and Abby. "You won't live for long but you'll serve the purpose well enough."

Gibbs saw movement through the window at the front of the cafe and almost smiled when he saw his team. He pushed the door open a little, pausing to make sure the action hadn't been noticed, pushing it a little further when there was no response. He waited, body tense, eyes narrowed.

Glass breaking accompanied the sound of a bullet and he made his move, slipping into the room and wrapping an arm around Abby's waist, drawing her down behind the plastic booth at the back of the cafe as the Daniels brothers reacted to the bullets. One of them had been hit but was still standing and both returned fire as several bullets broke through the window.

"Melissa..." Abby glanced meaningfully towards the kitchen, scared to use Kelly's name in case they overhead even in the chaos that had descended over the room.

"She's safe." Gibbs looked her over, making sure she hadn't been hurt. "Stay out of sight."

He moved forward and rose on his knees. He took aim at the man closest to him and fired, ducking as the other turned when his brother fell, a strangled curse leaving his lips. A bullet flew over his head and Gibbs looked over his shoulder at Abby to make sure she was okay before returning fire.

With the one of the Daniels brothers down and the other caught in between Gibbs and his team, the gunfight was over in a matter of minutes. When he was sure it was over, Gibbs took Abby by the hand and helped her to her feet. He kept his back turned to his team as they filed in to survey the damage and secure the Daniels brothers, keeping between them and Abby as he stared at her intently, lifting a hand to her cheek as though to check she was really standing in front of him.

"Kelly'll be waiting for you," Abby murmured, her eyes lowered. "You should go to her."

"She'll be fine for a few minutes." Gibbs moved his hand lower, letting it in the crook of her neck, fingers lightly touching her tattoo. "I got your letter."

A small, sad smile flittered across her lips but she still didn't lift her eyes to his. "So you know about Shannon. Good. I'm happy for you, Gibbs. I really am."

"That makes one of us," he told her softly. He waited for a moment, willing her to look at him, relieved when she did. "Don't leave me again, Abs. Please."

Confusion flickered in her eyes. "You've got Shannon and Kelly back..."

"Kelly, yes. Shannon, no." He lifted his hand from her neck and took hold of her hand instead. "Isabelle Kilpatrick isn't my wife, Abby. We've both changed too much. She's in love with her husband and I... I've got you. I hope I've got you."

Abby broke eye contact again, a sigh escaping her before her teeth began toying with her bottom lip. "Would you be standing here saying this if she wanted you back or am I second best? I could cope being second to a dead woman, Gibbs, but I'm not sure I can do it knowing she's out there somewhere and just needs to change her mind and you'll go running..."

Words alone wouldn't have been enough to assure her, that was Gibbs' theory. He pulled her towards him, one arm wrapping around her to keep her close, one hand returning to her face to tilt her lips up to his ready for his kiss. It took her a few moments to respond, to wrap her arms around him and kiss him back, but he made sure he kissed her with everything he had, everything he felt.

"Shannon's my past," he mumbled, his mouth a hairs breadth from hers. "Part of me will always love her, Abby, but you're my future. You're the one I want to be with now."

She went into his arms willingly, closing her eyes as they tightened around her. She opened them when she sensed someone standing close beside them and gave Kelly a shy smile, trying to disentangle herself from Gibbs, who clearly didn't want to let her go. He settled for keeping one arm around her, wrapping the other around Kelly to draw her into their circle.

The three stood together in silence for a while, a new family forged by loyalty and deceit.

*****


	11. Chapter 11

*****

It was a full week later when Abby managed to escape the watchful eye of her friends and newly formed family. She drove herself to the office of one Doctor Isabelle Kilpatrick, unsurprised to see builders at work, removing the sign from above the door. Cheryl Imes, the receptionist, gave her a tense smile and alerted the doctor to her presence, ushering her into the office when Shannon eventually agreed to see her.

"You're breaking her heart," was the first thing Abby said. She didn't sit down; there were no chairs left in the office to sit in other than the one behind Shannon's desk. "She's your daughter and she needs her mom."

A look of regret passed over her face, her eyes dark with sorrow she couldn't hide but Shannon shook her head. "I can't. I want to, I really do..."

"Then why can't you?" Abby leaned against the desk, palms almost flat against the smooth wood. "I'm not going to pretend I understand how you can give up a guy like Jethro. All I'll say on that is that your husband must be quite the guy and on a selfish note, I'm kind of relieved. But Kelly... She's your little girl. I know you've got more kids but surely you can make room for her, too?"

"I wish I could." Shannon shrugged her shoulders, lifting an elegant hand to wipe at the tears that spilled down her cheek. "My husband doesn't know about any of this. I couldn't tell him, I was told not to... Now... He'd never forgive me if he knew he and the kids might've been in danger because of me and I never told him. He'd hate me, Abby. I love him so much... After Jethro, I didn't think I could be happy again but I found Matt and he makes me feel like the only woman in the world. He... I can't lose him. I don't know what I'd do if I ever lost him. If there was a way to tell him about Kelly without risking my marriage, I'd do it in a heartbeat but there isn't. I love Kelly, I always will, but I can't bring her into my home, into my family, without risking losing it all again."

She felt sympathy for the woman sitting before her but then she remembered the look on Kelly's face when she'd spoke about her mother, the way Gibbs had said nothing but stood behind his daughter with a hand on her shoulder, a pained expression on her face.

"What if we could arrange something?" Abby began slowly. "What if you guys could meet for lunch every so often? Just so you can stay involved in her life. Your husband wouldn't have to know."

Shannon looked tempted for a moment, chewing on her bottom lip as she considered it. Tears shone in her eyes, though, and she shook her head after a long moment. "It would be too hard, for both Kelly and me. It wouldn't be fair on her to only be there for her when I can fit it around my new life. I won't put her through that. I know she thinks I don't care about her but I do. I love her more than I can say." Shannon fumbled with the drawer of her top desk, pulling out an envelope that she handed to Abby with trembling fingers. "Could you... Could you give her this? I know she might not want to read it now but I'd like her to have it. I want her to know her mother loves her."

Abby took the letter and slipped it into the pocket of her jacket with a solemn expression on her face. "You're moving the office, I see."

"I thought making a fresh start was a good idea. I've been thinking about moving for a while. A couple of friends in the field opened a place of their own a few months ago and they keep asking me to join them..." Shannon shrugged and got to her feet. "Will you tell Jethro and Kelly that I'm sorry? That everything I've done... I thought it was best for all of us."

Abby gave her a grave nod and held out her hand. She didn't smile when Shannon took it but held the older woman's gaze evenly. "I'll look after them," she promised, her hand tightening momentarily on Shannon's. "I'll do my best, anyway."

"I'm sure you'll do a great job." With a smile tinged with sadness, Shannon squeezed Abby's hand in response. "Jethro loves you and he's a good judge of character. Kelly... It might take her a while to come around but I think you'll be good for her. I'm sorry I tried to keep you apart and I'm sorry I lied to you. I just wanted..."

"You just wanted to keep your family safe," Abby finished softly. "Both of them."

They shared a small smile and Abby left the office knowing it would be the last time she saw Shannon Gibbs. Even if they passed on the street or in an aisle of a grocery store, Shannon Gibbs was finally at rest and Isabelle Kilpatrick was born in her place.

*****

She drove home slowly, back to the Gibbs household rather than the apartment she had only visited twice since her return to her life as Abby Sciuto. Gibbs' car was on the drive with Kelly's parked behind it so she pulled up against the curb and let herself inside, heading straight for the basement where she knew they would be.

"Hey, Abby!" Kelly beamed at her from where she stood working on her father's boat. There was a sparkle in her eyes Abby hadn't seen before and it just made her look all the more like her father.

Abby returned the smile and felt the weight of the letter in her pocket, deciding to keep it until she could speak to Kelly alone. "Hey, guys." She accepted a chaste kiss from Gibbs, pulling away before it could get too heated. She was still wary about public displays of affection – displays in front of Kelly, anyway.

"We were just discussing what kind of take away to get for dinner," Kelly continued, apparently unaffected by the sight of her father kissing the black haired woman in greeting. "I vote for pizza but Dad wants Chinese."

"We had Chinese on Saturday," Abby pointed out, taking the brush and small tin of varnish Gibbs offered her with a smile. "I'm voting for pizza, too."

"Yes!" Kelly stuck her tongue out at her father and handed him the brush in her own hand. "Two against one, the girls win again! I'll go order it!"

She bounced up the stairs before either of them could protest though neither had plans to. Abby set the tin of varnish down on the stool beside the boat and started painting an unvarnished section. She smiled when she felt Gibbs' arms slip around her waist, his lips warm where they pressed against the skin of her neck.

"Where'd you go?" He asked in a low murmur, the sound of his voice combined with his warm breath sending shivers down her spine.

Abby sighed and shrugged her shoulders, leaning back against him. "I saw Shannon," she told him quietly, glancing at the stairs to check Kelly was still busy elsewhere. "She said to tell you she was sorry. Gave me a letter to pass on to Kelly."

Gibbs stiffened momentarily and she sensed more than saw him nod. "You'll give her the letter later."

She turned in his arms, careful to keep the varnish-coated brush from touching him. "You don't mind? You don't want to give it to her yourself?"

"I'm not the person who got it for her." He leaned forward and kissed her softly, sweetly. "You're one in a million, Abby Sciuto. I don't know what I'd do without you."

"That's not something you'll ever need to find out," Abby told him quietly, tilting her face up to accept another, slightly longer kiss. "I'm not going anywhere."

They were still kissing when Kelly returned. She stopped on the stairs, cringing when the floorboard beneath her foot creaked and the couple below broke apart. Giving them an apologetic smile, she continued her way into the basement, her smile growing reassuring when she saw Abby dart a nervous look in her direction.

"Pizza will be here in twenty minutes," she said, picking up the brush her father had put down. "I ordered two. Figured we could eat whatever was left for breakfast."

Gibbs rolled his eyes and Abby hid a smile. "There are healthier ways to start the day, Kels. Like fruit or cereal or toast..."

"Pizza has it all, Dad. Dairy, veg, carbs... " Kelly gave her father a bright smile as Abby chuckled. "And it's even better when it's cold."

"So we'll put your slices in the freezer for ten minutes tonight and you'll be happy," Gibbs returned. "You don't have to wait till tomorrow for your cold pizza fix."

She listened to them banter with a smile, joining in when one or both of them asked for her opinion – usually siding with Kelly, much to her satisfaction and Gibbs' silent amusement. He pretended to be annoyed but his eyes sparkled when she looked at him, his smile easy and affectionate.

Happy and almost carefree.

Abby let her smile widen and found herself cautiously hopeful that the future would be good for them all.

*****

End.


End file.
